[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14353-14354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04759]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Native American Tribal Insignia Database
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on
the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651-
0048 Native American Tribal Insignia Database. The purpose of this
notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of
the information collection to OMB.
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this information
collection must be received on or before May 8, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
any of the following methods. Do not submit Confidential Business
Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450,
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Catherine Cain, Attorney Advisor, United States
Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450;
by telephone at 571-272-8946; or by email at [email protected]
with ``0651-0048 comment'' in the subject line. Additional information
about this information collection is also available at https://www.reginfo.gov under ``Information Collection Review.''
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act of 1998 \1\ (Pub. L.
105-330, section 302, 112 Stat. 3071) required the USPTO to study
issues surrounding the protection of the official insignia of federally
and state-recognized Native American tribes under trademark law. The
USPTO conducted the study and presented a report to the House and
Senate Judiciary Committees on November 30, 1999. One of the
recommendations made in the report was that the USPTO create and
maintain an accurate and comprehensive database containing the official
insignia of all federally and state-recognized Native American tribes.
In accordance with this recommendation, the Senate Committee on
Appropriations directed the USPTO to create this database. The USPTO
published the final procedures for establishing and maintaining the
tribal insignia database in the Federal Register on August 24, 2001 (66
FR 44603).\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.uspto.gov/trademark/laws-regulations/trademark-law-treaty-implementation-act.
\2\ https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/08/24/01-21479/establishment-of-a-database-containing-the-official-insignia-of-federally-and-state-recognized.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The USPTO database of official tribal insignias provides evidence
of what a federally or state-recognized Native American tribe considers
to be its official insignia. Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act, 15
U.S.C. 1052(a), disallows the registration of marks that falsely
suggest a connection with a non-sponsoring person or institution,
including a Native American tribe. The database thereby assists
trademark examining attorneys in their examination of applications for
trademark registration by serving as a reference for determining the
registrability of a mark that may falsely suggest a connection to the
official insignia of a Native American tribe. The database, included
within Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS),\3\ is available to
the public on the USPTO website, and includes an online help program
for using the system. More information about the program is available
on the website at https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/laws/native-american-tribal-insignia.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tribes are not required to request that their official insignia be
included in the database. The entry of an official insignia into the
database does not confer any rights to the tribe that submitted the
insignia, and entry is not the legal equivalent of registering the
insignia as a trademark under 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq. The inclusion of
an official tribal insignia in the database does not create any legal
presumption of validity or priority, does not carry any of the benefits
of federal trademark registration, and is not a determination as to
whether a particular insignia would be allowed or refused registration
as a trademark pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.
Requests from federally recognized tribes to enter an official
insignia into the database must be submitted in writing and include:
(1) a depiction of the insignia, including the name of the tribe and
the address for correspondence; (2) a copy of the tribal resolution
adopting the insignia in question as the official insignia of the
tribe; and (3) a statement, signed by an official with authority to
bind the tribe, confirming that the insignia included with the request
is identical to the official insignia adopted by the tribal resolution.
Requests from state-recognized tribes must also be in writing and
include each of the three items described above that are submitted by
federally recognized tribes. Additionally, requests from state-
recognized tribes must include either: (a) a document issued by a state
official that evidences the state's determination that the entity is a
Native American tribe; or (b) a citation to a state statute designating
the entity as a Native American tribe.
The USPTO enters insignia that have been properly submitted by
federally or state-recognized Native American tribes into the database
and does not
[[Page 14354]]
investigate whether the insignia is actually the official insignia of
the tribe making the request.
This information collection includes the information needed by the
USPTO to enter an official insignia for a federally or state-recognized
Native American tribe into a database of such insignia. No forms are
associated with this information collection.
II. Method of Collection
Electronically by email, mail, or hand delivery to the USPTO.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0651-0048.
Forms: None.
Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Government.
Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 5 respondents.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 5 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses
in this information collection will take the respondents approximately
1 hour to complete, depending on the complexity of the situation and
item, to gather the necessary information, prepare the appropriate
document(s), and submit the information to the USPTO.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 5 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Hourly Cost Burden: $301.
Table 1--Total Burden Hours and Hourly Costs to Tribal Government Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
Estimated Responses per Estimated Estimated time Estimated Rate \4\ ($/ annual
Item No. Item annual respondent annual per response burden (hour/ hour) respondent
respondents responses (hours) year) cost burden
(a) (b) (a) x (b) = (d) (c) x (d) = (f) (e) x (f) =
(c) (e) (g)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1................. Request to Record an 4 1 4 1 4 $60.13 $241
Official Insignia
of a Federally
Recognized Tribe.
2................. Request to Record an 1 1 1 1 1 60.13 60
Official Insignia
of a State-
Recognized Tribe.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals........ .................... 5 .............. 5 .............. 5 .............. 301
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $19.
There are no maintenance costs, capital start-up costs, record keeping
costs, or filing fees associated with this information collection.
However, the USPTO estimates that the total annual (non-hour) cost
burden for this information collection, in the form of postage, is $19.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Bureau of Labor Statistic rate for lawyers in local
government (23-1011--Lawyers), plus 30% added for beenfits and
overhead (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes230000.htm).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Postage
The USPTO estimates that 40% of the items in this information
collection will be submitted in the mail. The USPTO estimates that the
average postage cost for a mailed submission, using a Priority Mail 2-
day flat rate legal envelope, will be $9.35 and that approximately 2
submissions will be mailed to the USPTO per year. Therefore, the USPTO
estimates that postage costs in this collection will be $19.
IV. Request for Comments
The USPTO is soliciting public comments to:
(a) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility;
(b) Evaluate the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of
the collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
All comments submitted in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. The USPTO will include or summarize each comment in the
request to OMB to approve this information collection. Before including
an address, phone number, email address, or other personally
identifiable information (PII) in a comment, be aware that the entire
comment--including PII--may be made publicly available at any time.
While you may ask in your comment to withhold PII from public view, the
USPTO cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.
Justin Isaac,
Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-04759 Filed 3-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P